Reversible receptacle for soda fountain refrigerators



Sept. 11,-1934. c. J. FRAHM ET AL REVERSIBLE RECEPTACLE FOR SODA FOUNTAIN REFRIGERATORS Filed Feb. 24. 1932 Patented Sept. 11, 1934 STATES REVERSIBLE RECEPTACLE F O R S D A FOUNTAIN REFRIGERATORS Carl J. Frahm, Mount Carroll, and James F. Spear, Rockford, 111.

Application February 24, 1932, Serial No. 594,862

2 Claims.

This invention relates to a reversible receptacle for soda fountain refrigerators.

Chocolate coated ice cream bars and other frozen products sold at soda fountains are kept I in refrigerated receptacles. When the stock is suiiiciently depleted and is to be replenished, it has been the practice to remove the remaining stock before putting in fresh stock, so as to put the older stock on top for prompt disposal before it is not longer saleable. The trouble with that practice was that it took too long, and that the handling of the articles and the necessity for having them out of the refrigerator for sev-- eral minutes invariably spoiled the stock and if it were replaced in the refrigerator there was danger of contamination of the fresh stock as Well. It is, therefore, the principal object of our invention to provide a reversible receptacle, one adapted to be placed in the refrigerator either end up, and having both ends removable, whereby to permit filling the receptacle with fresh stock and then simply removing the receptacle and reversing it before replacing it so as to bring the old stock on top for prompt disposal. This 5 avoids the necessity for handling the stock and keeping it out of the refrigerator for any appreciable length of time, besides greatly facilitating matters for the delivery man.

The invention is illustrated in the accompany- .ing drawing, in which Figure l is a vertical section through a soda fountain refrigerator showing the use of a receptacle made in accordance with our invention;

Fig. 2 is a top view of the receptacle appearing in section in Figure l, but showing a lid in place on the top thereof;

3 is a vertical section through the receptacle of Fig. 2, and Fig. i is a horizontal section;

Fig. 5 is a plan View of the kind of receptacle used in connection with oval shaped refrigerator compartments, and

Figs. 6 and 7 are horizontal and vertical sections through said receptacle.

Similar reference numerals are applied to cor- 5 responding parts throughout the views.

In Figure 1 the numeral 10 designates generally a soda fountain refrigerator having the usual dispensing pumps 11 and refrigerated compartments 12 which are closed by lids 13. Our invention pertains to a new and improved receptacle 14 for chocolate coated ice cream confections and other frozen products to be kept in the compartments 12. The receptacle 14, as clearly appears in Figs. 2 to 4, is of circular cross-section to fit in the compartment therefor and comprises a hollow sheet metal casing 15 divided by sheet metal partitions 16 into a suitable number of compartments 17 in which to store the difierent packages. Both ends of the casing are open and adapted to be closed by lids so 18 and 19 removably secured in place in a man ner which will soon appear. Any suitable means may, of course, be provided for quickly detachably securing the lids in place. From this much description it will be seen that when the recep- 5 tacle 14 is in place in the compartment 12 as shown in Figure 1, and the stock therein is depleted enough to call for adding new stock, it is only necessary to store the new stock in the receptacle on top of the old, as indicated in dotted lines in Figure 1. Then, the lid 19 is fastened in place on the upper end of the receptacle and the same is lifted from the compartment and reversed, end for end, and replaced in the compartment. This brings the old stock to the top so that it will be disposed of before it is no longer saleable. Ordinarily, the receptacle is not filled up with fresh stock until it is about half empty, so that there is never any danger of having less than a complete turnover of stock by every alternate filling of the receptacle. It is clear, of course, that as soon as the receptacle has been filled and reversed, end for end, the lid which comes on top is removed and the other lid then serves as the bottom of the receptacle until the next reversal.

In Figs. 2 to 4, the lids l3 and 19 are illustrated as provided with a sheet metal reinforcement 20 at the center thereof, welded or otherwise suitably secured in place. Elongated slots 21 are provided in the central reinforced portions of the lids at the approximate center thereof under handles 22 suitably formed of sheet metal and welded or otherwise secured to the lids. A crosshead 23 is formed from a piece of sheet metal, welded or otherwise secured to the partitions 16, and is of a size to pass through the slots 21 when the lids are turned to bring the slots in register therewith. Thus, a lid can be fastened in place quickly and .1 easily by simply dropping the same down over the crosshead and turning the lid to bring the slot crosswise with respect to the head (see Fig. 2). The connection is at the same time good enough to permit using the lid as a means for lifting the receptacle by the handle on the lid. The fact that the crosshead comes crosswise with respect to the handle when the lid is locked in place is of advantage, naturally, be-

cause one can tell by the feel of it under the 1 fingers that the lid is not apt to become detached as the receptacle is being lifted.

In Fig. 5, an oval shaped compartment 12' is illustrated in which a receptacle 14' of half oval form is ordinarily used, leaving the other half of the compartment for the storage of bricks of ice cream and the like. This receptacle is made up of a sheet metal casing 15 conformed in cross-section to the shape of the compartment, as indicated, and having suitable partitions 16 therein to provide a suitable number of compartments 17'. The casing 15 is likewise open at both ends and adapted to be closed by lids 18' and 19'. In this case, since the lids 18 and 19' cannot be turned to lock them in place, a different form of locking means is required. We have shown the central partition wall as having extensions 24 with slots 25 therein to receive the straight edge of the lid 18 or 19, as the case may be. The semi-circular edge has a central radial slot 26 provided therein to permit dropping that end of the lid down over the projection 27 formed on the central partition wall. A slot 28 in the projection 27 is adapted to receive a slide 29 movable in guides 30 provided on the top of the lid. A projection 31 is suitably provided on the slide 29 to facilitate operation thereof by hand. We have not shown any handles on the lids 18' and 19, although that provision may be made if desired. Receptacles made in accordance with the disclosure of Figs. 5 to 7 will, of course, be used in much the same way as the ones previously described.

It is believed the foregoing description conveys a good understanding of the objects and advantages of our invention. The appended claims have been drawn so as to cover all legitimate modifications and adaptations such as may occur to those skilled in this art as a result of the present disclosure.

We claim:

1. In a soda fountain refrigerator having a storage compartment, a refillable, reversible receptacle for ice cream bars and other packaged products to be stored in said compartment and dispensed from said receptacle, said receptacle comprising a hollow casing open at top and bottom and providing full depth storage space for storage of products therein accessible from top to bottom, and a removable closure for each end of said casing, the receptacle being removably disposed in said compartment so that when the same has been partially emptied a new stock of packaged products may be put in on top of the remaining stock and the casing closed and removed from the compartment, and the receptacle then reversed end for end and replaced in the compartment, whereupon the aforesaid remaining stock in the receptacle is accessible by removal of the top closure and will be dispensed before the aforesaid new stock.

2. Ina soda fountain refrigerator having a storage compartment, a refillable, reversible re ceptacle for ice cream bars and other packaged products to be stored in said compartment and dispensed from said receptacle, said receptacle comprising a hollow casing open at top and bottom and providing full depth storage space for storage of products therein accessible from top to bottom, said casing being partitioned lengthwise i so as to provide separate compartments the full depth of the casing suitable for the storage of diiierent products, the upper and lower ends of the casing being open affording access to all of said compartments when either end of the casing is up, and a removable closure for each end of said casing, the receptacle being removably disposed in said compartment so that when one or more compartments thereof have been partially emptied a new stock of packaged products roc' 

